Right, challenging people's deeply held AND common beliefs is dangerous because it is "blasphemy", punishable by ... see the map https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasphemy_law#:~:text=A%20pros....

Thank God United States has constitution which forbids blasphemy-laws, not blasphemy.

No, but if you challenge people's deeply held beliefs they'll wage a long and complicated protest against you often including harassment, DOXing, and attacks against your livelihood. So I don't think it's so simple that anyone here can speak their minds without worry

I totally agree

That possible, and why I said "willing to challenge." There isn't much effective difference between proclaiming something because you believe it, and proclaiming something because you're afraid of repercussions or alienating people. You could even argue that the latter is worse.

It's not enough if they secretly believe it, they also need to be willing to challenge it publicly.

This could have to do with something called preference falsification. [0]

[0] https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674707580

TIL! Thanks for the resource.

Would you say the same is true about speaking out regarding Critical Theory or social justice?

I think if people hold secret beliefs in their hearts, and those beliefs have been carefully introspected and are not coming from a place of ignorance or hate, then people need to express them, no matter what they are.

> and those beliefs have been carefully introspected and are not coming from a place of ignorance or hate

No one ever thinks they’re the villain of the story.

Even if they're wrong, the careful introspection implies good faith, and this should become apparent by how a person talks about their beliefs, especially wrt to their acknowledgements about other peoples beliefs and feelings.

I think the risks of that person being or becoming a villain are quite low, and certainly not high enough to justify self censorship (not saying you were suggesting that).